Richard Gaikowski was a civil rights activist, newspaper journalist and filmmaker born in Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota on March 14th 1936, but received further unwelcome attribution after his death in 2004 from an anonymous source, only known to the world under the pseudonym of 'Goldcatcher', a man catapulted into Zodiac Killer folklore by Tom Voigt from the hugely successful website Zodiackiller.com. Off the back of this informant, Richard Gaikowski has posthumously been propelled to one of several high profile suspects in the notorious Zodiac killings from December 20th 1968 to October 11th 1969- but how fair is this new found attention. Well, if you take on board the credibility of the informant and the anonymity that surrounds him, it may tell you all you need to know. Anybody can throw stones from the shadows, and the evidence linking Richard Gaikowski to the Zodiac Killer is as weak as it gets, culminating in Nancy Slover, the police dispatcher who took the phone call from the Zodiac Killer on July 5th 1969, being played a recording of Richard Gaikowski's voice nearly 40 years after the Blue Rock Springs attack, and being utterly convinced the voice was the same one she heard just 40 minutes after the deadly double shooting.The circumstantial evidence lined up against Richard Gaikowski, as it is with many suspects, is a simple case of choosing the facts that fit and blatantly disregarding anything that casts doubt on the suspect's perceived guilt by not presenting it for public consumption. The questionable movements of Richard Gaikowski from the latter part of 1968 to the early months of 1969 has come under widespread scrutiny, on whether he was even present in Northern California, or for that matter the USA during the Zodiac Killer's first confirmed attack on December 20th 1968, resulting in the double murder of David Faraday (17) and Betty Lou Jensen (16) in a remote Lake Herman Road turnout. Surely, before you project a suspect into notoriety, it must be imperative you know without doubt that your charge was even in the same country during each or any of the confirmed murders. This is, at the very least, the first thing you should do. Not being 100% sure is simply not enough.

In 1966 Richard Gaikowski worked for the Albany, New York, Knickerbocker News publication, immersing himself in the political issues of the day. At the same time the civil rights group The Brothers, an African/American collective of around twenty members, were actively involved with some measure of success in improving social housing, public schools, police brutality issues and other projects in Albany's North and South End and Arbor Hill, gaining close attention when they highlighted the alleged Albany Democratic vote buying scandal in November 1968. Members included Leon Van Dyke, Gordon Van Ness and Clarence Williams, and their paths crossed with Richard Gaikowski as he was a frequent visitor to their Albany headquarters. The group followed the Martin Luther King policy of non-violent protest, something that courted admiration from Richard Gaikowski, who himself detailed the struggles of black minorities against the backdrop of racial injustice that permeated the American society of the day. The Brothers ran the Albany Liberator newspaper from 1967 to 1971. But things were about to change during the turbulent year of 1968. The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4th 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by Robert Kennedy's assassination on June 6th 1968 in Los Angeles, California, would in two brief months change the political landscape dramatically. Richard Gaikowski, disillusioned by the year's events, meant his stay in Albany and the Knickerbocker News was on borrowed time, as was the lifespan of The Brothers, which dissolved at the beginning of the 1970's.

In late September 1968 Richard Gaikowski, in his own words, left for Europe. At approximately the same time the political organisation People's Democracy was being formed for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority at Queen's University Belfast on October 9th 1968. The struggle of minorities once more must have pricked the attention of roving journalist Richard Gaikowski, who found himself at a loose end. Shortly he would travel to Northern Ireland to cover the unfolding events, where he witnessed the Belfast to Derry march violence on Queen's University students as they traveled as part of the People's Democracy. SEE HERE.Two notable dates were firstly, the beginning of the troubles on Saturday October 5th 1968, when members of the Derry Housing Action Committee and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Action Association were prevented from marching by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, when they baton charged the crowd in Derry.The second important date was the four day Belfast to Derry January 1st 1969 march by approximately forty members of the People's Democracy. Interestingly, this march was styled on the 54 mile Martin Luther King Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, that prided itself in peaceful protest. However, like the first Selma to Montgomery gathering on March 7th 1965, the Belfast to Derry march on January 1st 1969 erupted into violence when they were attacked many times by loyalist crowds along the route- the worst of which took place on January 4th 1969. Richard Gaikowski, in part a civil rights journalist, in all likelihood drew parallels with the struggles in America, the connection of a Martin Luther King style march, and, as had occurred many times previously, feared violence would yet again rear its ugly head. He felt compelled to cover it.In the newspaper clipping above, dated Friday January 31st 1969, it says 'Special Report from Belfast : The bricks are flying in Northern Ireland. The Catholics are singing "We shall overcome" and a vociferous Protestant group rallies against "popery". The situation is explosive. Richard Gaikowski, former reporter for The Knickerbocker News, has been on the scene of the protests and rioting. He tells about them in an article that will appear tomorrow on the editorial page of The Knickerbocker News' . It is clear from the article, it mentions Richard Gaikowski has been on the scene of the protests. The question being, was he present in Northern Ireland for the entire month of January 1969? - it appears a distinct possibility. He left for Europe in late September 1968, the troubles in Northern Ireland began on October 5th 1968, and the four day march between Belfast and Derry, indicated in 'My Albany Sojourn', took place on January 1st 1969.If he remained in Europe and Northern Ireland for this period, then Richard Gaikowski could not be responsible for the Lake Herman Road murders on December 20th 1968 and all but ruled out as the Zodiac Killer. If he was the Zodiac Killer, we would have to assume, that after murdering and depriving two teenagers the freedom to enjoy the rest of their lives just before Christmas, he then boarded a flight to Northern Ireland to cover a freedom march for a better tomorrow. It certainly makes a good cover story. Possibly his newspaper articles were forged and he was never in Northern Ireland. Enter the conspiracy theorists.

There are problems with Richard's article on sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. A few details and even a first-person quote were plagiarized from a January 5, 1969 article in the "The Observer," a London-based newspaper. Gaikowski's article also has no first-person accounts of the violence and fighting that took place during that first week of January, 1969.
It is conceivable that Richard returned from California in late January, 1969 to Albany and told his former editors that he had a "good story" for them.

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Obvious

11/19/2014 09:54:57 am

So where he was on Oct. 5th and Jan. 1st prove where he was on Dec. 20th? Gotcha.

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Drew Norman

11/19/2014 11:21:49 am

Where is the documentation that places Gaikowski in Ireland as early as October, 1968? The protest march between Belfast and Derry happened during the first week of January, 1969.

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Richard

11/19/2014 10:55:28 pm

Unfortunately, as of yet there is no documentation to place Richard Gaikowski anywhere over this period. This is the main problem when it comes to putting Richard Gaikowski, front and center of any Zodiac suspect list. Putting aside all the circumstantial evidence, that is less than great, it has to be a priority to know where your suspect is at any given time, before you move on.
And your right it is conceivable he returned from California and plagiarized another article, but that neither rules him out of being in Northern Ireland or rules him in for that matter. The onus must surely be on the accuser to verify Gaikowski's timeline, not the sceptic. This in essence is fundamental when you start any investigation into any suspect, and his whereabouts is a big stumbling block, that nobody has yet answered with any conviction, never mind evidence.

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Drew

11/22/2014 03:39:12 am

There was a 2012 article in the "Martinez News Gazette" that discussed Richard as a Zodiac suspect. One of Richard's friends in California presented a timeline of letters in the article ; one of these letters mentioned the first Albany snowfall in late 1968, which was probably mid-November. Richard's friend also mentioned that the "Albany Sojourn" timeline did not appear correct.

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Richard

11/22/2014 06:34:27 pm

Have you got a link for this article Drew.

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Drew

11/23/2014 01:48:49 am

Richard, the article link no longer works on Tom's site. However, I went through my email and found the timeline. Are you a member on zodiackillersite.com? I could PM it to you.

Richard

11/23/2014 01:51:01 am

Yes under UkSpycatcher, cheers Drew.

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Richard

11/23/2014 01:53:49 am

Or send it via contact page here.

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Richard

11/23/2014 02:10:42 pm

Thanks for the timeline. My sister recently contacted the Belfast newspapers to see if Richard Gaikowski had written any articles for them, from December 16th-22nd 1968. Although promising feedback from the lady on the telephone initially, it was regarded as investigative work, something that was considered too time consuming. The only other option is to visit in person and scour through the microfiche archives.

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Drew

11/24/2014 11:08:59 am

You're welcome, Richard. I contacted the British Archives a few months ago and asked about records of incoming visitors, but they don't have anything after 1960. Do you remember the article by "Orkney" that appeared in GT and seemed to be authored by Richard? I was able to get some feedback on that one, -- can PM that info. as well.

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Drew

5/29/2016 10:40:47 am

If Richard Gaikowski was in Europe for such a long period of time, why did he manage to write only one article during his entire stay there? Another issue is how could he could have afforded such a trip given that he quit his newspaper at the end of September, 1968.

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Wood

7/6/2017 10:52:51 am

A few years ago, I had my local government do a search for Gyke's passport. It took 4 months of searching, and I'm sure they were through as I did get a look at the paperwork that displayed correspondence between my local government and the passport (travel.gov) offices in Washington DC. I couldn't have the paperwork as it was in some sort of classified info.

They couldn't find any information that Gyke ever had a valid US Passport. He didn't. And I'm with Drew on the excellent work he did on the plagiarism, shows that Gyke was just a liar - and he was at the Bob Loomis house the week of the LHR crime!

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v.

1/3/2018 12:18:54 pm

Please support your rejection of Gaik with the facts showing it couldn't be him. You complain about selective facts being brought forth, but where are the ones that show it can't be him? Thank you

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Richard

1/3/2018 02:18:02 pm

In fairness, the onus is on the person proposing the suspect to supply the facts, not the other way round. If somebody claims a new scientific theory, or possibly somebody claims a Bigfoot sighting, they have to prove the case or provide the evidence. Just because I cannot prove they didn't see Bigfoot doesn't mean it exists. In this case, it's impossible to disprove something that doesn't exist. Where are the facts that can disprove any of the suspects proposed. When you take a suspect to court, you don't jail him because he can't provide the facts he wasn't the murderer, such as an alibi. The onus is on the person bringing the charges- the same applies to Gaikowski, Allen, Kane, Kaczynski etc.

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Richard

1/3/2018 02:34:41 pm

The truth of the matter V, is that when DNA, fingerprints and handwriting all ruled out Allen, ardent supporters of Allen as Zodiac refused to believe any of the evidence- all the excuses came out- somebody else licked the stamps, the DNA was degraded, the bloodied fingerprint on the taxicab wasn't Zodiac's etc. If I did find 'facts' disproving Gaikowski as Zodiac, don't you think ardent Gaikowski supporters would just make the same excuses. If you believe Gaikowski was Zodiac, I doubt anything will change your mind, even if his fingerprints didn't match the cab prints, his DNA was retrieved and excluded him from the letters etc
When somebody is utterly convinced of a suspect, that is fine by me- that is everyone's choice to believe what they believe. But when people disagree, which inevitably they will, that has to be accepted equally. You know as well as me, no court in America or England would convict any of the well known suspects on such flimsy evidence. If they did, it would be a travesty of justice.

BB

3/6/2018 12:25:25 pm

Richard Gaikowski should be eliminated as that type suspect. Gaik was editor of the underground newspaper that helped stop the Vietnam war. The paper was called the San Francisco Good Times. Which the fascist FBI shut down in 8-72. And, Gaik was smeared as the zodiac. Gaik was an American hero who railed against Nixon. He may have pointed to Richard M. Nixon as the zodiac in one of his ciphers though. He was a hippie and was a resident of the Good Times Commune. The FBI demonized commies as subversive enemies of the state under Nixon. As vise-president and as president too, remember Nixon's buddy was McCarthy. Still to this day the propaganda they put on us is so suppressive that people are scared and or confused about communism. They associate communism with the USSR - but the Soviets were not communist. That was their propaganda. The USSR were lying when they proclaimed to be communists. Their whole thing was to keep the poor down. True communism is just like in good hippie communes - where egalitarianism and reciprocity are the thing. Sharing and caring and helping one another and all that peace free love honesty and good times sort of stuff is what communism is really about. This is what Gaik was trying to help us achieve. I think Richard Gaikowski was the hero opposite of Richard Nixon the villain. And, maybe Gaik created this zodiac boogie man character to sell newspapers. But, he never killed anyone. Also there are no suspects who fit every case. The best fit it seems for Edwards and Domingez is George Gill. For Bates it's Ross Sullivan. For Faraday and Jensen it is Phillip Bucky Stewart. For Darlene it is George Waters. For Cecelia Shepard it points to Arthur Allen. And, for Stine it seems to point to Lawrence Kane. They seem to be compiled into one comic book (Tim Holt) character the Zodiac, by the Hearst news papers more likely than RG's Good Times. Peace

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BB

1/20/2018 02:07:42 pm

That is right! People believe lies and reject truth. Lies are safe, and the truth is scary. I was booted out of the Marine Corps in 1984 for standing up to a violent bully (he was beating and robbing guys and had already done it to me) - but I was only a 19 year old pfc where he was a staff officer - so they naturally believed him (who lied) and did not believe me (who told the truth) then they forced me to sign out. I was taught to stand up to bullies. This is not wise. Just tough it out and avoid them to the best of your abilities. It was easier for them to believe that I was full of it than to rock the boat and investagate him so I was kicked out. Still to this day the Corps doesn't accept the truth. Lies, lies, lies that is how they get people to vote their way. That is the way of religion. That is the way of politics. that is the way of the media, and that is the way of business. And, that is the way of our legal system. Lies are why this case of the Zodiac is so messed up. How do you unravel years of lying?

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